AeroGarden Part Two - Featuring TopLED Reflector Series 96x3w

[Renegade69]

Dont know about the wingspan on that baby but its sure looks great for 2 weeks. My soil babys are a month old an look like that.

Thanks BT... And I'm not doing anything special with the AG and nutrients. 50Watt bulbs, someone said full spectrum of 2700? Not sure what that means, GH's FloraSeries, weekly flush, fresh nute's, "The Green Pad" CO2 generator above her and a lot of love. My biggest hurdle has been that dam humidity. Still can't get it above 35 but it's well above the 27 I was getting. A 8X8 dish of water on top of the heating pad. Did the trick.

Got my Bubbleshous from Nirvana on the way at least 3 more White Willows in the freezer and if my brother in Cali gets off his butt and send me those Kush I'll be set for my 3rd go round. Nirvana is also sending (standard practice) some free seeds. I'd imagine they are not fem's though. Not sure I want to mix those with the good stuff. Could play around with them when I rotate from this grow to the 6 plant grow. I want to mix the 3 and attempt to grow 6 plants out of the AG. The only difference will be the lights. I want to go LED or CFL. Did I say that right? Lower electricity bills?

I still need to sex this bitch just to confirm that she's a she...LOL. Wasn't going to take her to harvest but just might after all. Need to learn how to train and crop for bushiness.

 

[Renegade69]

Wow, so I looked online for some "White Willow" pics and those leaves look nothing like the broad leaves I have. Fuck gonna be pissed if it's somehow reg's. Someone (not me) either through a reg seed in my vile or the seeds that I bought aren't really White Willow. Well practice is still practice...LOL.

Renegade

 

[BudTester420]

Wow, so I looked online for some "White Willow" pics and those leaves look nothing like the broad leaves I have. Fuck gonna be pissed if it's somehow reg's. Someone (not me) either through a reg seed in my vile or the seeds that I bought aren't really White Willow. Well practice is still practice...LOL.

Renegade

also remember that there are different pheno types, so the ones you saw online might not be the pheno you have.

 

[Renegade69]

also remember that there are different pheno types, so the ones you saw online might not be the pheno you have.

I here you Blazin.... Today is bath day. I'll send an updated photo after I drain, flush and fresh nute's tonight. I'm gonna have to raise the hood to take the picture. She looked very proud this morning when I checked in on her.

Question.... I know your a soil man but do you know how long I should flush for? Last week I flushed 3 times and only left the water in for about 15 mins each time. Then I added the nutes.

Thanks man for your input it is very helpful.

Renegade

 

[BudTester420]

It your still just in veg then I would keep up with what your doing. When you go from veg to flower I would flush 2x as much and on the last flush add half strength nutes.

 

[Renegade69]

12 Feb 14, Wednesday

Week 3, Day 1...

Temp at 0600 was 81, humidity was 31%

Temp at 1700 was 82, humidity was 31%

Bath day....

PPM of reservoir water after draining was 106 x10 Does this mean she's not getting enough nute's??? Probably not...it's only one plant. The reading should be different with multiple plants. Pics of root system in reservoir looks good.

PPM of tap water used for flushing was 113. Tap water had been sitting since last flush.

PPM of fresh distill water before nute's was once again 000. After nute's were added PPM was 121 x10

PM reading after nute's were added to distilled water was at or below 4.0. Put first 10ml of Up in water. Reading was at 6.0, Put additional 10ml of Up in and reading was at or below 6.5. Put 5ml more of Up and reading was at or below 7.0. At this point I put 5ml of Down to bring reading down to 6.0.

So, it's 25ml Up then 5ml Down to bring 1 gallon of fresh nute's to within 6.0 PM. Should put Up and down in order stated above for good measure. 10, 10, 5 Up then 5 Down.

Flushed reservoir 3 times before adding fresh nute's. Each flush remained for approximately 15 or more mins.

Refilled glass dish with warm water for the humidity. This technique is working. Keeps humidity at around 33%. Fresh warm water will make it reach 40 then settles down to 33.

Final pics of the night. This will be week 3, Day 1

The first set of leaves now measure 8" across. It's probably a dude but what fun I'm having...LOL. I'll be very prepared when my next grow begins. All fem's first of all...

Regarding "Flushing", it was suggested by Blazin to continue my current flushing technique, 3 times, 15 mins per during veg stage. When I go from veg to flower double my flushing but put half strength nutes in the last flush. I like this idea and will try that.

Question.... Half strength compared to what? GH's flowering stage? Or whatever I'm feeding her at that time, up to that point?

I'm going this step unless I hear otherwise.

 

[BudTester420]

I'm pretty sure it's half of what you were currently using, I reached out to Cronic and hopefully he can better assist you man, he's way better at hydro then I will ever be.

 

[Renegade69]

I'm pretty sure it's half of what you were currently using, I reached out to Cronic and hopefully he can better assist you man, he's way better at hydro then I will ever be.

Thanks Blazin.... My head is spinning with the comments regarding LED lighting. I want to update me cabinet so I started surfing for advise on what's best. I don't want to be changing out my lights at every stage. Trying to find one set that will do it all. Any suggestions? So far I'm looking at the TopLED brand. Mars II or the Flector Series.

And of course I don't want to break the bank. After all if I harvest it will be meds for my wife and easy time for me...LOL.

 

[BudTester420]

Money wise TopLed is a great way to go, I'm going to purchase 2 lights from there soon as I get an email from Sara. Your best bet would be a 3w reflector series, I don't know your dimensions but from the looks of it not much height. 5 w would probably burn your plants, and it doesn't have a veg switch, you could veg with one but the 3w has veg and flower.

 

[Renegade69]

Yep, Looking again at the Reflector. Max height will be around 24" Give or take... Both will fit in my space which is no more the 35X24 which equates to roughly 5sqft. The Reflector 96, is 22X10. So at best continue to use my AG lights through early stage and at some time take them off the unit and turn on the R96. That's my plan going forward.

Again as always...420 members have kept me straight...back to the sidelines...LOL

Renegade69

 

[CronicHempHog]

hey im subbed top led is probably the cheaper way to go
one thing im noticing you might wanna do something about is the plexiglass thing or glass thing? or is it plastic?
that the rooting plug is sitting in when you take pics from the underside I can see light coming through cover it with something you don't want algae to start growing
I notice the high temps your always stating in your updates too the roots of the plant are they sitting in the res yet?
im doing dwc bubbler its always in the res for me
but I ask because you speak of high temps try not to let you res temps get above 76f if the roots are sitting in it
try to keep it as low as 69f if all possible too but with regular cleaning may be able to get away with
a more constant say 74f degrees but less chance of root issues the lower you can get it
69 is optimum but we all cant afford chillers so we do what we can
some people use water bottles they throw in the freezer they just pop one or two in the res as needed
if I can see or think of anything or if you got questions ill do what I can to help
I don't usually flush the plant till im ready to harvest
I do however rinse my roots with clean water with every res change doesn't mean I let em sit in water
I got an empty bucket I throw 2-3 12 oz cups of water from the top and a couple over the roots to rinse them a bit
so theres really no water its sitting in its just what I used to rinse I let it sit while I clean the bucket and make new water with nutes
for the plant that's when they get their short drying off or airing out lol doesn't hurt it suppose to help
anywho subbed

 

[s1ingblade]

Hey Renegade69
Was at cronics journal and heard of yours.
As for lighting went all in LED and after a few runs sold them at half price and went back to 1000s. Now I know your space wont allow HUGE lamps as those but they do make smaller HPS ballasts and bulbs.
I really like how big the young plants fans look and I think its a health thing (good) and should end up being a good specimen if its not a male of course.
Feel free to stop by my 2nd journal anytime, links in my signature
oh yeah nice to meet ya!

 

[KingJohnC]

Subscribed. You want pH 5.8 for hydroponic and soiless (peat moss and coco coir) and pH 6.5 for soil. You want 70°-90° Fahrenheit and 50%-70% humidity for vegetative growth and 30%-50% humidity for flowering. I would use a cool mist humidifier in the area where you intake your air for your grow area. If you are using distilled water you will need to supplement calcium and magnesium.

Here is a nutrient availability chart

 

[Renegade69]

CHH, SB and King. Thank all for checking out my grow and sub'ing.

Everyone one of you gave some valuable information and will respond later this evening. Out with the wife doing the "V" day thing.

Renegade

 

[CronicHempHog]

Enjoy your evening and have a Chronic Weekend

 

[Renegade69]

Week 3, Day 3....

Temp at 0600 was 81, humidity was 29%. Night time temps ranged 81-84, 25-32%

Temp at 2200 was 82, humidity was 32%, water temp 29.9C=85F

Plant height is around 2 1/2 to 3" tall with a wing span....get this 11" for one set of 3's and 9" for the other set of 3's. I would love to get excited but all I'm doing is what I'm learning and I'm using GH's FloraSeries nute's. Running their suggested feeding schedule.

Now going with Cronic's suggestions of water temp and light. I first covered the top of my pod with one of the paper disk's that come with the AG. I could see the difference from below with and without the paper and the amount of light that was coming in. Second for my reservoir temp I placed a baggie with some ice cubes in the water. These two were another "Duh" moment because I was aware of the importance of light in a hydro setup not getting into the res because of algae. I dam should have remembered the water temp. I'm sure I caught both in time. The comment about flushing...maybe it was a bad use of the word because I don't flush with flushing nute's I just drain the res, refill it with tap water let it run for 15-20 and repeat 2 more times. Then add the distilled with fresh nute's already in it. Yes, I add the nute's to the water the night I'm draining and not sooner.

Then going with King's suggestion of placing my mister (when it gets here) in the area of my fans. I made the second adjustment by moving my glass water dish over below my fans. The dish is sitting on top of a heating pad (heating pad temp on high, not sure of exact but mildly hot to touch). So far humidity (with doors open) is holding at 35%. Normally when I open the doors it drops to about 30% or below. This is a big improvement from where it has been. Mean while I purchased a personal mister from Amazon and will be here next week just before the next drain and fill. King I believe i'm in all my ranges except for the humidity. I would like to keep my temps around 85 but anywhere in the range of high or low of that I would be happy. Most times the temp just wavers around 82-83 or 84. I'm taking notes on the humidity range and will adjust accordingly. As to the Calcium and Magnesium supplements...Do you think GH's FloraSeries accounts for that? If not where would I get those supplements? I would think since I'm changing out my nutes weekly it shouldn't be a problem. And my res is only a 1 gallon tank. And right now it's just one plant. When I checked my PPM before the drain it was still above the 1K range.

And lastly but no less important are Sling's suggestions and comments about my light question. Mine is only a question in return...yea, yea I only get one...LOL. The break down of my grow cabinet. It's an old computer hutch that was transformed. It is perfect for my needs of just wanting a hobby and it gives me meds for my wife...assuming I'm successful...LOL. The area I'm currently working with is no more then 5sqft and could squeeze another 2sqft out of it if I tried real hard by removing the upper cubbies...which I plan on doing for my next grow and when I decide on the light sets. That gives me 7.31sqft to work with. With that little area anything above 400watts would burn my plants. Agreed? Wouldn't a 3watt system like the ReflectorSeries be better suited? And could you please break down the difference and benifits of LED, HPS and CFL bulbs. I believe from what I could find online my bulbs are 50 watts each with a spectrum of 2700? Not even sure what the hell that means but someone else gave me that last bit of information.

And lastly, based on the pics of my little gurl (better be), I'm already thinking of the next stage for her. Namely sexing and then hopefully pruning, and training. Assuming she's a gurl when can I begin cutting the lower fan leaves?

My internodes are short...the area between the nodes. The "Stiplues can now be seen clearly with my mag glass and the lateral branches have made their way out. I will grow to 16" and begin flowering and blooming. And hopefully by then my SOG will be nice and full.

Annndddd.....i'm finally able to introduce my trellis...yea...LOL.

So in closing...LOL. Whatcha think?

Comments and suggestions are of course welcomed.

 

[CronicHempHog]

ok if you using the net to scrog id put it up a bit more so you can start bending the top over when it gets into the net just keep training it tha way till the screens almost full then flip it to flower
as far as lights go theres some good led's now at a decent price you can use throughout the grow
its a lot better than when they first started making them benefits would be low heat, low electricity consumption, longer life on the bulbs
cfl's are ok you can do a whole grow with them but you wont get the yield you can from led's or hps
hid's or mh and hps high electricity usage lots of heat works great tho gonna have to replace bulbs probably every year or so

 

[KingJohnC]

The General Hydroponic Flora series nutrients are meant to be used with tap water that already contains calcium and magnesium. If you do not have a hydroponic store near you, you can order a supplement or nutrients over the internet.

Here are 2 forum sponsors

www.perfectgardens.com


Access Hydroponic

 

[Renegade69]

The General Hydroponic Flora series nutrients are meant to be used with tap water that already contains calcium and magnesium. If you do not have a hydroponic store near you, you can order a supplement or nutrients over the internet.

Here are 2 forum sponsors

www.perfectgardens.com

Understood on the nutrients. I always understood that tap water was bad. Is it too late to start using the tap water? My PPM for tap water is usually around 110-120. Are we assuming that's the minerals that's in it? ? And easy assumption that those minerals are Cal and Mag?

Going to look at the sponsors till you advise. Thanks King....

 

[Renegade69]

ok if you using the net to scrog id put it up a bit more so you can start bending the top over when it gets into the net just keep training it tha way till the screens almost full then flip it to flower
as far as lights go theres some good led's now at a decent price you can use throughout the grow
its a lot better than when they first started making them benefits would be low heat, low electricity consumption, longer life on the bulbs
cfl's are ok you can do a whole grow with them but you wont get the yield you can from led's or hps
hid's or mh and hps high electricity usage lots of heat works great tho gonna have to replace bulbs probably every year or so

My Man....LOL.

That's a better explanation of the bulbs without loosing me. I'm on the right path with the LEDS. I saw some KIND LED's on both Access Hydroponic and Advanced Gardening (thanks King) so I'll look at those as well.

But could really use some help with the SOG since this is my first attempt at it. So hopefully your on board with the advice....I'll also check other how-to's in the mean time. Sexing first then as long as it's a she I'll proceed with the training. She's about 3" right now give or take.

As I proceed should I cut the lower branches before beginning the SOG? I would think yes since I want the newest branches to get the nute's? And when is a good time to handle the plant? I haven't touch her since she sprouted and only did so last night when I introduced the trellis.

And I misunderstood training which is why I introduced the trellis early in the first place. I was worried that the plant would be butting up against the bottom of the trellis but it seems that's what I want. To train her to run along the bottom. Since my end height will be 16", when should I begin training?

I'm going to leave the trellis in for another day or two before removing it so as not to cause any unnecessary stress. Plus the pics look awesome with it in there...LOL. I guess I could move the trellis up to my halfway point and just leave it there, which sounds like a good idea. I'll begin training after I sex it. The only "Sexing" technique I've heard of is to cover one leaf for 12/12? Other then cutting back the light on the whole plant. Correct? And how long should I cover the leaf? Only till I see male or female right?

Thanks...

Renegade69